Chen Xu was in the inn, observing the grey cat and the hut from a distance through the Daoist Soldier.

A sense of eerie foreboding gradually arose.

The light had difficulty penetrating the room, and the Daoist Soldier did not rashly enter; instead, it leapt lightly and clambered onto the roof of the hut.

The Daoist Soldier looked down through the cracks in the roof.

The first thing that came into view was a patch of darkness.

In the dingy little hut, there was a tattered fire basin flickering with sporadic firelight.

In front of the fire basin stood an offering table, but instead of a memorial tablet, a withered thin figure sat cross-legged on it.

In the dim light, one could vaguely see that the small figure was about three feet tall, wearing a Daoist robe and a shaved head.

His head hung slightly, making it hard to discern his facial features, as if he were alive and yet dead.

The grey cat moved forward with an oddly rhythmic gait, its limbs bent to the ground, and unexpectedly kowtowed in front of the offering table towards the small figure.

With this bow, a sizzling sound was suddenly heard.

The feeble firelight in the fire basin in front of the offering table suddenly soared three feet high.

Boom—

The fierce flames shot straight up, and although the Daoist Soldier lying on the roof was a puppet and not a living person, it suddenly leaned backwards uncontrollably as the flames surged.

At the inn, Chen Xu sensed this remotely, and instinctively pressed his hand on the table with a slight force.

He almost controlled the Daoist Soldier to retreat immediately, but out of concern for the Demon Puppet, a fierce determination rose in Chen Xu's heart.

Although the force behind the Demon Puppet was powerful and unfathomable, this time it wasn't his own self that was dispatched, just a Mud Ball Daoist Soldier.

He also had the ability of the Tribulation Mirror; if he kept retreating, he would truly become a coward.

The Daoist Soldier did not retreat, and a soft cat meow sounded from inside the hut.

"Meow!"

Within the grey cat's piercing cry seemed to be a glimmer of joy, then it leapt onto the offering table.

Afterwards, Chen Xu witnessed a truly shocking scene.

The small figure on the offering table suddenly reached for its own chest.

With a ripping sound, as if fabric tearing.

The chest of the robe-wearing small figure was forcibly torn open by himself, and under the firelight, the split chest was a bloody mess.

Inside, the organs pulsated, but they were all a dark red, wet and clumped together, looking unlike normal organs.

The grey cat's cries became abruptly intense.

It stretched its head, making a huffing and gasping sound in its throat, tilting its body forward, and suddenly bit a bloody object out of the small figure's chest cavity.

"Squeak!"

The small thing turned out to be alive, suddenly letting out a "squeak" at this moment.

The grey cat had already bitten the squeaking bloody mass into its mouth, chewing and swallowing with a crunch.

Chen Xu, observing this scene remotely, was momentarily shocked by this eerie spectacle.

Until the grey cat's mournful sharp cry ceased, it raised its head, and a rusty and mottled bell began to grow from its neck like a fruit on a tree.

Only then did Chen Xu suddenly realize.

What he had just witnessed was the complete birth process of the Demon Puppet.

No, there was more.

Inside the hut, the grey cat's screaming stopped, while the small figure on the offering table suddenly opened its mouth and faintly chanted in a strange language:

"Everything loses its spirit, only then can it gain eternal life.

Enter my belly, to begin eternal life.

Feast on my essence, I grant you boundless power.

Your life, your death, serene joy..."

The grey cat's screaming ceased, the bell at its neck issued a clear sound.

The small figure on the offering table, with its bloody chest and abdomen, said in a detached and emotionless voice, "Go then."

The grey cat turned to leap, about to hop off the offering table.

It was at this moment that the Daoist Soldier, always crouching on the roof, finally took action.

This move was made with all its might.

The spear shattered the rooftop, Heart Fire unleashed across the distance.

Chen Xu's anger accumulated for a long time.

From the first encounter with the Demon Puppet in the ruins of Shejun, to seeing the Demon Puppet again in the back alley of the inn, and now witnessing the birth of the Demon Puppet...

Speaking of which, although the Demon Puppet's birth process was bloody and cruel, it seemed not to harm humans.

It preyed on wild cats and tracked the Little Demon.

Chen Xu was not a Defender of the Faith, as he had said to Wu Zhengze, he ate meat too.

All living things, there's a cycle of hunting and being hunted. Normal killing for food is just natural selection, standing from each perspective there's nothing to criticize.

But such as the Demon Puppet's birth, a sinister and brutal act akin to nurturing Gu, is unacceptable.

Most importantly, Chen Xu had already regarded the demon puppet as a major enemy.

Why bother with so many reasons?

If you want to kill, then kill, swiftly and decisively.

The Heart Fire transmits across the air, like a raging fire cooking oil, vigorous and unrestrained.

When the roaring flames descended from the sky, the gray cat demon puppet, which had just leaped off the altar, didn't have time to resist.

It was like a piece of dry wood being thrown into a blazing furnace, with a loud bang.

The wooden house's roof exploded.

In the midst of the anguished cat's howl, the gray cat's entire body burst into flames, from the outside to the inside.

The small Daoist Soldier, surrounded by a gentle breeze, floated above the wooden house, readying a second spear strike as soon as the first was unleashed.

Meanwhile, in the inn, the Innate Qi within Chen Xu flowed and depleted like water.

He activated the Food God Heart Method, embracing the endless flow concept, causing the Innate Qi within him to replenish continuously as it was consumed.

If it became truly difficult to sustain, there were always Attribute Points that could be added at any time.

He disregarded the expenditure, performing the Heart Fire, causing the flames in the brazier within the wooden house to also blaze higher.

Then he saw that the flames in the brazier began to emit a blue glow.

Just as the Daoist Soldier's spear tip danced with fire, about to strike the little figure on the altar, the blue flames in the brazier suddenly swept sideways, forming a blue flame cover.

With a puff, the blue flame cover, shimmering with a ghostly glow, enveloped the three-foot-tall figure on the altar.

Encased in the bluish firelight, the originally blurred features of the little figure began to become faintly clear.

With sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, graceful and handsome, just by looking at the features, it seemed eerily similar to Chen Xu himself!

It was as if Chen Xu was looking in a mirror, face to face with himself.

Chen Xu sensed this scene remotely, but his heart was as steadfast as iron, not affected in the slightest.

His Heart Fire was vigorous, and his mind was exceptionally clear at this moment. Upon seeing this scene, he merely murmured to himself: child's play.

He had traversed the Ghost Market, befriended the heroic souls of Great Scholars, tasted the Forgetful Thousand Threads Soup, and diligently studied every day to refine his mind, so how could he be easily shaken by an evil entity?

Seeing the Daoist Soldier leap into the flames, spear at the ready for another strike.

The three-foot-tall figure within the blue flames finally opened its mouth once more.

Its voice was low and mysterious, carrying a chant-like rhythm, yet ethereal like smoke.

It seemed to happen here, yet also as if from a distant, unknown place.

"Born to die, die to be born.

Though you kill me, it's as if you kill yourself.

Where there is killing, there is demonic obstruction.

Why such bitterness, why such suffering?"

During the chanting, the three-foot-tall figure suddenly raised its hands in prayer position and lifted its head.

As the spear approached, the face, almost identical to Chen Xu's, broke into a calm smile.

This smile, reflected in the spear and flames, was truly spine-chilling.

Chen Xu even sensed a warning signal fiercely throbbing in his heart.

Yet the spear ultimately thrust downward.

What is meant by "Though you kill me, it's as if you kill yourself"?

Chen Xu, upon hearing the other's chant, already had some understanding.

But the thriving Heart Fire made him fearless, as the Daoist Soldier's spear drove forth, the little Mud Ball Daoist Soldier even opened its mouth, voicelessly yet heroically reciting:

"Zhao guest with Hu tassel, Wu Hook shines with frost and snow.

Silver saddle on a white horse, swift like a meteor.

Ten steps kill one person, a thousand miles leave no trace.

When the deed is done, depart with a sweep of the cloak, hiding both self and name!"

Kill!

Swoosh—

The Innate Qi surged across space, quivering the atmosphere.

The pure and robust power pierced through the blue flame cover, the spear directly penetrating the forehead of the three-foot-tall figure on the altar.

The three-foot-tall figure on the altar didn't dodge or evade, and at the moment of impact, a smile still lingered on its face.

Simultaneously, far away in the inn, Chen Xu suddenly felt a faint pain between his brows.

The power of the Tribulation Mirror was activated.

The fleeting pain then dissipated.

Tribulation Mirror: A high probability of rendering all malicious karma in the world null.

What is meant by "Though you kill me, it's as if you kill yourself"?

No, only in killing you, there is no killing myself.

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